What Is Victory?
by Ms. Kinnikufan
Summary: (Iron Wok Jan!) Kiriko's, Celine's Jan's and Okonogi's thought's after the end of volume 5. (Spoiler for volume 5) Complete!
1. Kirikio's thoughts

Kiriko's Thoughts

By Ms. Kinnikufan

Disclaimer: Shinji Saiyo owns the characters. I don't.

Winning this way sucks, I think as I throw the medal to the ground.

It is a medal I feel I have not truly earned. It is not a medal of true victory. It is a medal of spite-spite of Nichido Otani, who gave me the winning ten points to spite Jan.

The rules say I won, but my heart says I lost. The same heart I put into my cooking.

In my heart, I know a true victory would have only been obtained through going into overtime. I know that "heart" would have won over competition.

Celine Yang's philosophy "Cooking is about abundance" has it's place in some situations, I guess. Creativity is often needed, but it can never overtake the importance of the heart. But Jan's philosophy, he arrogant philosophy has absolutely no place in cooking. Cooking is not about competition, it about a lot of things but should never be about competition.

Jan wonders why my "Cooking is all about philosophy" means so much to me.

Well, it is for the same reason his "Cooking is about competition" is to him.

It was taught to me. Taught, not beaten.

Taught to me through my grandfather's love rather then arrogance. The power of the heart was taught to me every time my grandfather let me help him cook, despite my clumsy hands and the fact that I wanted to put chocolate syrup in everything.

Every time I cook a meal, I want to show the love that my grandfather has shown me.

A victory for me would have meant a victory for my grandfather, my whole family even.

A victory for the love and warmth they have shown me.

As I angrily throw the medal to the ground, I feel I have failed to pass on the love and warmth I have been shown.


	2. Celine's thoughts

Celine's Thoughts

By Ms. Kinnikufan

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Shinji Saiyo does.

"Cooking is about abundance" is my philosophy. Ah'm pretty damn sure of my philosophy. 

Cooking would be boring with creativity or risk. Hell, we would still be eating charred meat on a stick without it.

Ah'm greatly disappointed that abundance didn't win. Ah'm even more greatly disappointed in the close-mindedness of people.

What's wrong with frog fallopian tubes? They're not hard to swallow. They're very nutritious.

In a truly proper context, frog fallopian tubes ain't any weirder then other stuff that's considered "normal",

The meat we eat off chickens and cows is the muscle. Gelatin is made from pig bones or fat unless it is vegan style. Eggs come from the reproductive system of birds, they just ain't fertilized. Milk virtually comes from a cow's digestion process. The preservatives and artificial flavorings in food sure ain't natural.

The same people who consume those things won't consume frog fallopian tubes.

If Ah had a chance to do it over again, Ah'd still use frog fallopian tubes.

Damn, people are close-minded.

In mah household, eating was never boring. My ma once used pancakes to make sandwiches instead of bread. Pa once combined the styles of Russia and South Africa to make a tasty dish. I once tried chocolate covered ants in mah childhood. They taste kind of like chocolate covered popcorn.

My papa showed me that only abundance makes the best, tastiest, most amazing dishes.

Kiriko's philosophy is kind of sweet, Ah will admit. She is most definitely sincere about it, but that won't make the best dish.

Ah don't know what to make of Jan's philosophy, but he damn sure is fanatical about it. In fact, it blinded him during the noodle battle and helped him during the dessert battle.

He might have been the victor if they had gone into overtime. Ah don't know.

What Ah do know it that Ah'm going to stick to my philosophy no matter what.

As pa once said "It's better to be unique rather then perfect. Unique people always have more fun then the perfect people."

Abundance may have lost today, but at least didn't win the way Kiriko did-out of spite of an asshole judge.


	3. Jan's thoughts

Jan's thoughts

By Ms. Kinnikufan

Disclaimer: Shinji Saijyo owns the characters. Not me.

Stupid asshole Otani. He gave then ten points to Kiriko the ten points to spite me.

Stupid bastard judges who combined their points and gave then to Kiriko.

Cooking is about competition!

The "cooking is about heart" philosophy is shit. Few people actually have hearts. They have lust, greed and stupidity. That's what made my blood eggs so special!  They revealed people's true selves! That is what makes Akiyama's magic so special.

It reveals people as masses of lust and greed-the true intimate selves of almost all people!

No, it is not a pleasant revelation. But it's true, very true. 

People hat e me because I reveal that message. Don't kill the messenger just because he delivers an unpleasant truth!

I don't know much about that chick Celine's philosophy, nor do I care. Whatever it is, it must be a pretty stupid one, because she only got ten points from the judges and thirteen points from the audience.

But out all the stupid philosophies I'm heard in this competition, Kiriko's is the stupidest. Putting your "heart" into a dish doesn't make it good. Over thousands, no millions, of amateurs over the world put their "hearts" into their passions and they still suck.  The customers we serve are just greedy pigs. Why would you want to put any emotion into cooking for them!

I know the truth; our customers don't give a shit about us besides what we can cook for them.

Kiiriko's philosophy is sentimental shit. Sentiment doesn't get anyone, anywhere.

I know from experience. I will never admit this to anyone (I'm only admitted it to myself just now.) that I chose knife-shaved noodles because it was one of the few dishes in where my grandfather didn't beat it into me. One of the few dishes in where I didn't get any new physical or emotional scars. Sad, but true.

I glare once more at Tokyo Dome before leaving. Stupid dome full of stupid people.

Stupid people who award personality rather then skill.

"Heeeey Jan!" Okonogi unexpectedly beckons me. Despite everything, I'm glad to see him. He's one of the few people who probably aren't a mass of lust underneath.

He probably the same on the inside as he is on the out side –clumsy, kind of dumb, but overall pleasant to be around.

He makes some dumb remarks. I tell him to shut up.

We hear screams and shouts. A crowd is clumsily trying to catch pigeons to make their own blood egg dish.

They are not getting ingredients to make "San Duan Xi Gua Zhong "(Kiriko's dish) or "Gu Xue Ju Bu Xun" (Celine's dessert), but blood eggs. My dessert.

I feel a certain smug satisfaction in knowing that this would piss Kiriko off.

Perhaps the competition hasn't been a total waste after all.


	4. Okonogi's thoughts

Okonogi's Thoughts

By Ms. Kinnikufan

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. Shinji Saijyo does.

I'm Takao Okonogi. I'm not really significant. But I'm okay with that. Really I am. I have gotten use to it.

The Chinese Cooking Competition was amazement to me.

I saw people at their best and at their worst. People always tend to reveal their most intimate selves when stressed-out.

In particular, I saw Jan at his worst. Going psychotic after losing the noodle battle, serving poison mushroom soup, the way Jan treated Kota Omae after the lotus root battle…defiantly Jan at his worst.

Yet…despite his general bad attitude towards many things..Jan is the one who has treated me the best.  Yes, Jan. No mistake. The almost-psychotic chef, who often acts like a complete asshole, treats this insignificant chef better then anyone else. Even better then my own family. Even better then Kiriko.

Yes, even Kiriko. Kiriko may have less "pissed-off times" then Jan, nut when she does, you don't want to be on the same continent. Hell, you should be two continents away. 

Hell, most of the time she doesn't notice me around. Jan does. Jan notices me and doesn't physical abuse me. In fact Jan's the only one at Gobanchos who hasn't hit me or thrown something at me. Jan has only insulted me three times. That's why I consider Jan a friend.

I don't know why Jan considers me a friend, really.

Maybe he doesn't see me as competition, which is what his cooking philosophy is all about.

The final round was truly about conflicting philosophies. Kirikio's consideration for the customer verses Jan's desire to win at any cost. I don't think Celine ever had a chance, the poor girl. Jan and Kiriko were simply more intense about their philosophies.

When it came right down to it, Jan's and Kiriko's points were equal.

Jan said something about all the judges who didn't want him to win poling together their points for Kiriko. I wonder, is just skill that makes a chef or personality and motivation too. 

Kiriko apparently got 50 points from the judges because she was a more pleasant person. In the end, Jan lost because a spiteful Otani gave Kiriko the ten winning points.

But watching all those people trying to catch pigeons makes it clear to me that they liked Jan's dish better.

I wonder who really lost: Jan who got less points, or Kiriko who got more points because of Otani's spite?


End file.
